On December 4, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002.  The "Dot Kids Act."

 

Why was this new Act needed?

 

For some time now there has been a feeling that the unmoderated Internet is not a "Kid Safe"  place.  This perception has been fueled by the plethora of hardcore porn e-mails, hardcore porn pop-up and pop-under advertisements and adult solicitations for dating services, sexual aids,  suggestive adds for penis and breast enlargements, sexual aphrodisiacs, sexual apparatus and the like.   There is also the occasional headline story about a child lured into a pedophile clutches via the Internet chat room or other Internet related meeting place.  According to the Congress studies have shown that 19 percent of youth (ages 10-17) who used the Internet regularly were the targets of unwanted sexual solicitation, but less than 10 percent of the solicitations were reported to the police.  For all these reason our legislature has determined the need to make a Kid Safe Place on the Internet. 

 

Originally the proponents of DOT.KID wanted it to be a Top level Domain. As it was enacted it will be a Sub Level Domain of  the DOT.US   Thus new Kid Safe Domains will carry .kids.us suffix    So for example, if ABC wanted to create a .Kids domain it would be   WWW.ABC.KIDS.US

 

 How will this Domain keep kids Safe?

 

Broadly stated the .US Registrar, a privately held company named NeuStar Inc. is charged with creating and policing this sub-level domain to insure that it only provides access to web Sites which contain content which:

• "is suitable for minors and not harmful to minors."  
• prohibits hyperlinks to other web sites outside the kids.us domain and
• prohibits two-way and multiuser interactive services,  (i.e. chat rooms, multiplayer games etc.) unless those wishing to offers such services certify that such two-way services comply with the content standards to be established for the new sub-domain. 
• Does not contain the 7 "Dirty Words" of the Pacifica Case 
• Does not display, sell or advocate use of weapons, drugs, alcohol, gambling or tobacco;
• Is designed for older teens, or
• Does not demonstrate explicit violence against persons or animals including Hate Crimes.

NeuStar has stated that there can be exceptions to these general guidelines and has suggested that a Content Monitoring Panel make such content decisions.

 

The DOT.KIDS Act specifically defines "Suitable For Minors to mean:  Material which is not psychologically  or intellectually inappropriate for minors and serves the educational, informational, intellectual, or cognitive needs of minors; or the social, emotional, or entertainment needs of minors." 

 

The DOT.KIDS Act also defines "Harmful to Minors" to mean" "Material that the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find: A) panders to the prurient interest.; or B) depicts, describes, or represents in a manner patently offensive with respect to Minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, and actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual act, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals or post pubescent female breast; and C) when taken as a whole, lacks serious, literary, artistic, political, or scientific values for minors. "

 

 The DOT.KIDS Act defines Minor to mean any person under the age of 13.

 

How will Web Sites Owners be able to obtain a .kids.us domain name?

 

Web site owners wishing to obtain a .kids.us domain name will have to certify that their content is suitable for minors and is not harmful to minors.  In addition,  their web sites  may not hyperlink to other web sites outside the .kids.us domain.  The Registrar is required to monitor and enforce these legislative policies. Prudent web site owners attracting Minors will also need to review and comply with other laws, regulations and industry guidelines such as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Better Business Bureau (CARU) to ensure that their sites comply.  Jacobs & Associates can review and advise Web site owners in this regard.  

 

What if a Web Site violates the terms and conditions of the Act? 

 

The Registrant will have the authority to police and remove content which fails to comply with the legislative mandate.  The Registrar is also required to establish a mechanism to resolve disputes over whether content does or does not meet the legislative requirements. 

 

Haven't several other Laws  designed to protect children been struck down on constitutional grounds?  Is this Act likely to be deemed constitutional?

 

 Yes, several other acts have been struck down and I'm afraid that this one, which delegates content censorship and enforcement to a private for-profit company may suffer the same fate.

 

Additional information is available at: www.neustar.us . Parents who have witnessed child exploitation or solicitation online can also use the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Online Cybertip line at http://web.cybertipline.com